Ontario Students Counter Anti-Immigration Flyer with Positive Message

In May 2014, this controversial anti-immigration flyer began circulated around Brampton, Ontario.

A member of the Facing History education organization in Ontario, teacher Lanny Cedrone, decided to bring the flyer into his class for a discussion.

He had just finished teaching about propaganda in his Grade 11 Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity course at at Louise Arbour Secondary School.

His students, some of them children of immigrants, were outraged that this kind of bigotry existed in their own community. They decided to take action and created their own flyer depicting the smiling faces of Brampton’s diversity. They wanted to show the world that their city is happy with the way it looks.

As many propaganda vehicles do, this flyer used a photo out of context to create a false impression. It used a picture of Sikhs protesting in India, which infuriated the students even more.